


Silence Don't Mean Nothing (But It Does To You)

by Dracomalfoyy



Series: 23 Ways To Say I Love You [3]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Barney Barton Sucks, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Deaf Clint Barton, I'd punch him, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, but i literally cannot find it in me to care, clint has more issues that i can write about, especially when the other guy deserves to be punched, i know this isnt exactly canon, not at 12:25am, steve loves fights, steve would too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 06:56:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20238622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracomalfoyy/pseuds/Dracomalfoyy
Summary: Prompt 3 - things you said too quietly(all prompts stolen from eversncenewyork on tumblr)Title is from 'Silence' by Grace Carter





	Silence Don't Mean Nothing (But It Does To You)

Clint had first noticed it a few months after they'd moved into the tower. Every morning, after he'd rolled out of bed, put his hearing aids in, and dragged himself to the kitchen for coffee, he would make breakfast for the rest of the team. He knew that Tony would forget to eat if food wasn't handed to him, and often if it was. He usually gave Tony's breakfast to Natasha, who would not tell anyone how she got him to eat it. Nat never ate breakfast, claiming that she felt sick if she ate in the mornings. Clint knew that was a lie but he was too tired to start that argument. Thor always ate on the balcony. He was still fascinated by Earth and loved people watching when he could. Bruce rolled into the kitchen every morning and read some super sciencey book that Clint pretended not to understand while he ate. Clint would sit across from him during breakfast, asking questions that made Bruce roll his eyes. Natasha usually appeared back in the kitchen by this time, happy to watch Clint wind Bruce up by pretending to be stupid. She knew how smart Clint really was. 

He knew who ate where and why. Except, there was one person he could never pin every morning. 

Steve's morning routine was the same every day: wake up at 5am, run around the city twice, spend some time drawing in the park, and then run back to the tower to have his breakfast, made by Clint, at 7:30am. Some mornings, Steve would talk and talk and talk to the point where Clint considered turning off his hearing aids. Other mornings, he would sit in silence to eat his food and leave as soon as he could. But every now and then, on the silent mornings, instead of leaving he would stay and watch Clint with a terrifying intensity. Sometimes, Clint would stare right back, just to psych him out. It worked once or twice. 

This morning was one of those silent mornings, with the intense stare. Clint couldn't find the energy to glare back. His night had been long and sleepless, leading him to the gym at 3am. He'd had to bandage his hands before he started making breakfast. Clint leaned against the cold marble countertops of the communal kitchen, sipping his coffee. He could practically feel Steve's eyes piercing his skin. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't 100% trust the team yet, meaning they didn't know that he was deaf or really anything about him. They knew his name, his official job title and the fact that he made them all breakfast. He stayed in the kitchen a few minutes longer before he gave up and made his way to the corridor leading down to the gym. Steve followed him out of the kitchen and into the gym, locking the door behind them. Clint turned around, eyes narrowed in confusion. 

"If you're about to challenge me to a fight Cap, I'll warn you that you might not win." Clint crossed his arms over his chest, mentally praying that Steve would go away and leave Clint to beat up more punch bags. Steve shifted on his feet, eyes widening.

"No! No, Clint, I'm not here to fight. I just wanna talk."

"Well since you took the liberty of backing me into a corner, what's bothering you?" Clint turned his back to Steve, already not liking what was happening. He didn't want to fight with Steve. He had a lot of respect for the man. In some childish way, Clint wanted Steve to be proud of him. He craved a friendship with him, saw him as someone not too different from himself. Steve just wanted to make things better for as many people as possible, and if that hadn't been Clint's aim since he joined SHIELD. 

"Yeah, sorry about that." Steve looked down, blushing slightly. He cleared his throat before continuing. 

"Clint, are you deaf?" he asked. 

it was notoriously hard to catch Clint by surprise. It was even harder to terrify him to his core. The leader of the team he was clearly the weak link of knowing that he was vulnerable. That turned his skin to ice, made his breathing stutter, ripped his defensive cover away from him. He was vulnerable anyway, being a normal little human on a team of gods and heroes. Being a normal little human with a disadvantage made him a risk. Clint knew that, and now Steve knew that which meant his numbered days were up. The sheer panic at losing this little bit of stability he'd built, where he made breakfast every morning for people who thanked him, took his legs from under him and sent him to the floor. His brain was short-circuiting. He'd have to leave Nat behind. She was too good to be out of place on the team. He couldn't make her leave this new thing she had going for her. She never got much anyway. Clint knew he was panicking and it was stupid and entirely out of place but he couldn't make it stop. Once he'd calmed down, brought himself back into the room he realised that Natasha was now there and Steve was standing behind her, shellshocked. 

"Nat?" he mumbled, reaching forward to grab her hand. She met him halfway, keeping the other hand on his cheek. 

"Hey, it's fine, it's just me. You shut down for a little bit there. Scared the hell out of an old man." she smirked at him, but he could see the concern in her eyes. SHIELD trained their agents to shut down when they were being interrogated. It upset him that he'd have to have to explain to Steve why it had happened. He glanced at Steve, who looked like he'd just seen 100 dogs drowning in a lake. 

"I'm fine. I'm back now," he said to Natasha. She squeezed his hand, moving away to let him stand up. Once Clint was back on his feet, she whipped around to face Steve, all the fury and fire of the Black Widow radiating off her. Steve took a step backwards, almost preparing to sprint away from the two assassins. Natasha's voice carried no light or fun as she spoke. 

"Last time that happened, he was being tortured. If it happens again Rogers, no amount of super-soldier serum will save you from what I'll do." Satisfied that she'd destroyed Steve where he stood, Natasha left the gym, knowing that the following conversation was best had with fewer people around. She didn't get involved in boy fights anyway. They were stupid. A tense silence settled over the gym. Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. 

"I'm sorry. I noticed your hearing aids not long ago when you were talking to Bruce." He sounded almost ashamed about what he'd seen. 

"It's fine. It's just kind of a sore point Cap. Not a favourite memory of mine." Clint replied, eyes still not meeting Steve's. The other man looked absolutely heartbroken, and Clint hated it. 

"I want you to feel safe around us Clint." Clint sighed, rolling his eyes and mentally preparing himself for the pitying looks he was bound to get from the Captain. 

"My dad used to beat us up, me and my brother. He punched me so hard one time that it knocked me down the stairs. Woke up a week later to a quieter world. It came back in little bits over time. Dad got himself and my mom killed in a drunk driving accident when I was 6 so Barney and I got bounced from family to family until we ran away to the circus. I was only around 20% deaf by the time I was there. Wind forward a few years, Barney turns into dad and beats me up so bad that I nearly died right there in the mud. Hearing didn't come back after that but y'know, it ain't the worst thing. Can turn my aids off every time Tony opens his mouth." Clint tried to chuckle as he finished but it came out sad. He watched Steve's face, ready for the pity. 

It never came. Instead, Steve looked absolutely furious, resembling Natasha in the most uncomfortable way. 

"It's fine Steve. It's over." Clint mumbled, suddenly wanting to be as far away from the gym as possible. There were a few more seconds of tense silence before Steve spoke.

"It won't happen to you again Clint. I won't let it." The way Steve said it, Clint almost believed he was free from harm. He shot a small, grateful smile at Steve before leaving the gym. He'd given him the information. What Steve chose to do with it was entirely up to him and would definitely be enough for Clint to forgive being blindsided. 

The text he'd gotten from Barney a few weeks later about Captain America breaking his nose was enough for Clint to forgive Steve for everything. 

(So yes, Steve had hacked into SHIELD with the help of Tony. And yes, he had found the two photos of Clint's brother that existed. And if he had kept a copy of that photo on him at all times, just in case he happened to bump into Barney in public, there was nothing stopping him from having a little chat. And if Barney happened to throw the first punch, then Captain America just had to throw the second. After all, he couldn't risk anyone getting hurt, right?)

**Author's Note:**

> Bully me on tumblr —> clintbartonsbitch


End file.
